A New Beginning
by csdenis2
Summary: This is the story of what happens after the war, when Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts after defeating Voldemort. After becoming friends, Harry begins an unexpected romance with Draco Malfoy. I've changed the rating to M for the later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **This is the story of what happens after the war, when Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts after defeating Voldemort. After becoming friends, Harry begins an unexpected romance with Draco Malfoy.

**Author's note: **This is my second try at fanfiction, and I'm really hoping you all like it. I'll try to update as frequently as possible, which, now that uni has finished and I have a four month break other than work, should hopefully be fairly often. Btw, J. K. my story won't work if Harry dies in 'Deathly Hallows', so I'm really hoping you keep him alive, lol.

Harry Potter was going back to Hogwarts. It had only been a year and yet he felt strangely nervous. Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry had been Harry's home for the best six years of his life and it was the only place he had really felt like he belonged. After the death of the headmaster, his mentor professor Dumbledore, he left Hogwarts to go on the most dangerous journey of his life. Now, after defeating Lord Voldemort he was ready to go back to Hogwarts to finish his last year and begin his life as a normal human being, or at least as normal as one could be, considering he was a wizard.

Harry, Ron and Hermione traveled to platform 9 and ¾ together. They were also going back to Hogwarts for one more year. In fact most of their year, those that had survived the war, were returning. While the school had reopened briefly the previous year with professor McGonagall as headmistress as the war boasted more and more casualties students were sent home to be with whatever family they had left.

When the three had boarded the Hogwarts Express, they grabbed what they suspected was the last free compartment. Since there were actually eight years of students this year, the train was unusually packed.

Harry could hear the younger students around him laughing and chattering excitedly, as though the war had never happened. After what they had been through, Harry and his friends were rarely so gleeful, though they had become a lot closer and a lot more comfortable around each other. They had just started playing a good game of exploding snap when Harry spotted a familiar face pass by their compartment for the third time, looking for somewhere to sit.

"Malfoy!" he yelled down the hallway, not entirely sure why even as he said it.

The boy turned and glared at Harry before replying "What do you want Potter?"

"If you don't have anywhere else to sit…umm…well, there's some space in here" Harry looked down as he said it, sure his offer would be declined.

Malfoy looked confused and then as though he might burst into laughter. "Why on earth would I want to sit with you?" he asked, his voice full of disdain. "We may have been on the same side of the war, but since when have you and I been friends?"

"Nevermind, I just thought you might not have anyone else to sit with" Harry answered back, furious with both with himself for offering and with Malfoy for being the same stuck up prick he had always been. He really shouldn't have been surprised. Malfoy had hit the nail on the nose when he said they had never been friends. In fact, they had been arch rivals at Hogwarts for their entire stay there.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, confused. "Why the bloody hell did you just invite Malfoy to sit here?"

"I don't know Ron, I just figured that he wouldn't have any one to sit with. I mean all of his friends were Death Eaters and were either killed or arrested." Harry tried to explain, "I just wanted to be nice". He looked to Hermione for help.

"Well….I suppose your right Harry" she began, much more calmly than Ron. "I mean, while he is the most annoying prat I've ever met, he did help defeat Voldemort, so I guess we could stand to be a bit nicer to him."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"But!" She added "as soon as he calls me mudblood I'm going right back to hating him"

Harry and Ron laughed and agreed emphatically. In truth, Harry wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to be friendly to Malfoy. Perhaps it was because he now realized how trivial their childish rivalry was. He was really just grateful to be alive. He wanted to use this chance to start over and Malfoy was a good place to start.

Harry actually owed him a lot. Draco had never embraced his role as a Death Eater as whole-hearted as his father would have hoped. After he failed to kill Dumbledore, the Dark Lord had killed Draco's family as punishment. Draco, no longer having anyone to protect, had gone straight to the Ministry of magic. He traded death eater secrets for amnesty. Draco's information had helped Harry a lot in his search for Voldemort's horcruxes.

Meanwhile, one the other side of the train, Draco Malfoy was still looking for a compartment to sit in. Every compartment he passed was teaming full of annoying younger students squealing about how excited they were to be going back, play quiditch and so on. While Draco was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts, he was also dreading it. Now that he had no friends to be with, he felt more alone than ever. He didn't need to be reminded of that further by sitting with any of these pathetic kids.

Furious as he was to admit it, his best option was to go back and sit with Potter and his friends. To be perfectly honest, he had no real problem with them, he just disliked them on principle. Granger was a mudblood, but after the war he realized it was probably in his best interest to overlook this and discard his past prejudices.

Grudgingly, he made his way back to their compartment. He hesitated before pushing the door open.

"I've changed my mind" he said, coolly, "I think I'll sit here. It seems you lot are my best option"

"I thought we might be" Harry replied, smiling slightly.

"Listen Potter, I don't need your pity!" he scowled, mistaking Harry's smile for a smirk.

"It's not pity Malfoy" Harry said with a sigh, "I just figured it was about time we put this petty rivalry behind us."

"But just because were being nicer to you now, doesn't mean you can insult our families and get away with it, got that?" Ron said aggressively.

"Relax." Malfoy replied, "Even I'm not about to blow my only chance an somewhat intelligent conversation at this school"

"Really? I never thought intelligent conversation was something you looked for in your friends" said Hermione, cheekily, remembering the two massive troll-like cronies that used to follow Draco everywhere.

"Ha. Ha. Hilarious, that is" Draco replied, but the smile on his face made it clear he was not offended by the comment.

The four off them continued to talk for the remainder or the trip and sometimes it almost seemed like Draco had been a part of their group for ages. By the end of the train ride, they were all thinking the same thing. _"That was not as bad as I thought"._


	2. Chapter 2

Being back at Hogwarts was marvelous. A little weird perhaps, without Dumbledore, but other than that it felt like all was right with the world. In many ways, life ways better than it ever had been for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron and Hermione had forfeited their prefect duty when they left after sixth year, so they no longer had to worry about being responsible all the time. Even Hermione admitted it was a little tiresome chasing after first years with fanged Frisbees or puking pastilles all day.

Harry was back on the quidditch team. There was no denying he was the best candidate for the job. He was no longer captain; a fifth year had taken over that job in his absence. Harry had to admit, he was doing a pretty good job, plus it was nice not to have the responsibility of keeping the team in order. Ron was on the team too, but only as an alternate keeper. He said he had enough stress during the war. Big crowds at quiditch matches still made him a little nervous. He still loved the sport, so he commented, along with Luna Lovegood. While Ron knew the game inside and out, Luna provided much more…amusing commentary, with her constant speculation about imaginary ahem _invisible _creatures that might be on the field.

Ron and Hermione and finally gotten together during the summer. They had made the decision not to do anything until after the war. While Harry was apprehensive at first, he quickly discovered that there was very little difference among them. They still bickered over small things and they were still best friends with Harry. Luckily now that they were dating, there was no unresolved sexual tension and no one to may the other jealous.

Harry was finally getting the chance to enjoy his youth, with the possible exception of his nightmares. He was still occasionally plagued by nightmares of the friends he had lost during the war, most notably Ginny. She has been killed by the death eaters and they had never gotten the chance to start their relationship where they had left off. It was partly because of her Harry was so determined to enjoy his life.

Some time near the end of September, Harry, Hermione and Ron rushed down to the dungeons. They had been late for potions three times in the past two weeks and slughorn's fondness for Harry had soon disappeared after he noticed Harry's aptitude for potions had severely diminished now that he wasn't getting tips out of Snape's old potions book. It was highly likely they would get detention if they were late again.

Luckily, they slide through the door just as Professor Slughorn was about the close the door.

"Lucky break Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger. I would have hoped you would have learned to leave earlier by now." Slughorn said, shaking his head.

"Geeze Potter, I almost though you weren't coming and I'd have to make this potion all by myself" Draco whispered, as Harry pulled up a chair next to him.

They were usually partners in potions class, while Ron and Hermione worked together. They didn't usually hang out outside of class much though, as they were still in separate classes. While they may have moved past the rivalry, they weren't the best of friends just yet.

"No, I just slept in, yet again." Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Good Lord, won't you ever learn?" Draco teased

"You sound like Slughorn" Harry muttered groggily.

"I do not!" Draco said with mock offence.

"Boys!" Slughorn warned "less chatting and more potion making."

"Yes Proffesor Slughorn" they said in unison, but continued to whisper to each other any way.

"So, you going to the next Hogsmead weekend?" Draco asked.

"Um… I dunno" Harry replied, suddenly more somber.

"Aww, come on, why not?"

"That's the day that Ginny died, last year" Harry replied, now barely audible.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't know mate."

"S'all right" Harry mumbled

"Hey, I have an idea, but you have to trust me, ok?" Draco said.

Harry looked at him questioningly. "Ummm..ok, but what…?"

"You and I will go to Hogsmead that weekend and… yes I know, but hear me out. We'll go to Hogsmead and we'll do something to commemorate Ginny's memory." Draco said, quite sure of his plan. "Ron and Hermione should come too, as Ron was her brother and Hermione seemed like she was pretty close to her too."

"Ok…I trust you I suppose. I just don't know how up for a typical Hogsmead weekend"

"Who said anything about typical? I may not have known Ginny very well…mind you that was entirely my own fault, but either way I good tell you she was anything but typical." Draco replied.

"That's true" Harry said, a little more reassured.

"Of course it is. I told you to trust me" Malfoy said with a smile as he finished cutting up the ingredients for their potion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **thanks to the 2 ppl who have reviewed so far. Hopefully more people will review soon!

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The morning of October 6th , Harry met Draco at the front entrance to Hogwarts where everyone going to Hogsmeade was gathering.

"Hey" Harry said, "Ron and Hermione said they'd meet up with us later in the day. They want some alone time together in Hogsmeade first."

"That's understandable" Draco replied, grinning.

"So what exactly is the plan for today" Harry asked curiously.

"Well most of it is up to you, actually, since I didn't know her very well." Draco explained. "I was thinking we could start buy doing, buying and eating stuff she loved. Sort of like a tribute to her." Draco was apprehensive. He wasn't sure whether Harry would go for the idea.

"Okay…" Harry replied.

"And then I thought we could go to the hogshead and get some firewhiskey. Hopefully Ron and Hermione will be able to join us for that bit."

"Firewhiskey?" Harry asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, well, I thought because it was something Ginny would've loved, you know, but didn't get the chance. Plus she always struck me as having a bit of a fiery personality" Draco explained, sheepishly.

"Ha ha, that's unbelievably cheesy, but also kind of brilliant." Harry replied

"I thought it would be better than being stuck in Hogwarts all day." Draco said, relieved.

"Definitely." Harry admitted. "I've got to tell you, I almost didn't come, but Ron reminded me that being miserable can't bring her back, you know?"

"Smart guy." Draco said.

By this point they had reached the village of Hogsmeade. Their first destination was Honeydukes, the amazing candy store. It had everything, from chocolate frogs and sugar quills to blood pops and cockroach clusters. They went through the rows of candy picking up bunches of Ginny's favorite candy. Harry would point things out to Draco and explain why Ginny liked them. Sometimes he would tell a story about something hilarious that had happened with some sort of candy. After about an hour of this, they finally left, laughing. They had already eating a good portion of their candy and were hopped up on a sugar high.

"Ha ha Harry, tell me you didn't _actually_ think that chocolate frogs were frogs covered in chocolate!" Draco laughed and they walked down the street.

"Hey it's not my fault!" Harry said with mock indignation, laughing hard himself. "I was in first year and I had never heard of them before! Besides, muggles have chocolate covered ants and stuff in some countries"

"EWWW!!!" Draco said, horrified. "that is without a doubt the most disgusting thing I've ever heard!!"

They continued like that for the rest of the day. They went to all of Ginny's favorite stores and by the early evening, Harry was thoroughly cheered up. They ran into Ron and Hermione near six o'clock and dragged them off to the Hogshead.

Draco ordered them each a huge mug of firewhiskey. He slopped whiskey over the side of the dirty mugs as he carried it to the table where the other three sat.

"Here we go…so what did I miss" Draco asked, as he had missed part of the conversation when he went to get the drinks.

"Oh Ron and I were just telling Harry that we went to Madame Puddifoot's today" Hermione told him.

"Oh lord, not that pink frilly coffee place?" Draco said with mock horror.

"Yeah, but we only went for a laugh." She reassured him.

"As if we would go there to enjoy the _atmosphere._" Ron said, laughing.

"Oh god, when I went there with Cho in our fifth year, it was a complete disaster." Harry said, not disappointed in the least.

"I went with Pansy a few times, against my will of course." Draco told them. "I just don't understand the allure of a coffee shop that's entirely pink."

They laughed and continue to reminisce about things that had happened in their previous year at Hogwarts. The three Grifindors were surprised at the hilarious capers the Slytherin had been involved in. They had always thought Slytherins were stiff and boring.

Several hours and many pitchers of firewhiskey later, the four of them stumbled out of the pub.

"Ugh..it should not be possible to drink that much" Ron moaned, clutching his stomach.

"Teehee, I think I've found my new favorite drink!" laughed Hermione, who they had discovered had a surprisingly high tolerance and had out drunk them all.

The two of them stumbled up ahead while Harry helped Draco walk.

"You know Draco, this was better than I expected!" Harry said, although a lot less clear as he was slurring his words.

"I'm glad!" Draco practically yelled with a goofy grin.

"You know, I always used to think you were a stuck up snob, but you're pretty cool!" Harry replied at the same loud volume.

"Hey, I know what you mean, cause I always thought you were an arrogant prat" Draco admitted loudly to the night "but you're a great guy Harry Potter!"

They ran to catch up with the other two as they continued their drunken walk back up to Hogwarts. When they reached Hogwarts they parted ways and snuck back to their respective houses.

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The next morning, all four of them woke up with hangovers. Harry walked downstairs to the Grifindor common room at about noon. Ron and Hermione were already there looking as bad as Harry felt. Hermione's hair was matted and messy while Ron's had a startling resemblance to Hermione's cat Crookshanks.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn't happen overnight, but Harry and Draco quickly became close friends. After that night in Hogsmead, they started hanging out after class. Eventually, the two became inseparable. To anyone who didn't know better, it would have looked as though they had been friends for a very long time.

Harry felt like he could confide in Draco about just about anything. They often stayed up much later than they expected because they had been having a conversation too good to end. It turns out they had a lot more in common than they would have admitted to during the previous years they had known each other. Harry had even started sneaking Draco into the Gryffindor common room when everyone else had gone to bed so they could keep hanging out without getting in trouble with Filch for being in the corridors at night.

Ron was not taking this new friendship with Draco well. While they had been friendly at the beginning of the year, once Harry started hanging out with Draco more frequently, he was much colder towards the Slytherin. Harry felt a little guilty that he had been spending so much time with Draco, since it was obviously making Ron jealous, so he had started making a conscious effort to set aside time to hang out with Ron. They'd usually go out to the quidditch pitch, but occasionally Harry and Hermione would take turns playing Ron at chess.

After one of these chess matches, the three of them went down to the great hall for dinner. Ron was in a great mood after having beaten both Harry and Hermione. He always did, but they were getting better the more they played him, and Ron loved the challenge.

Once they had seated them selves at the Gryffindor table and Harry waved to Draco from across the Hall, they noticed that Professor McGonagall was standing up at the front of the room. Once everyone had noticed and had quieted down to listen, she began to speak.

"Good evening students" she said primly, but with a small smile. "The other staff members and I have some rather exciting news for you. We have decided that a celebration is in order, to celebrate the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named. After all this tragedy, we all deserve a little excitement, so on New Year Eve, there will be a ball held in the Great Hall." She paused while until the excited whispers had died down.

"For those of you old enough to remember the Yull Ball during the Triwizard Tournament a few years ago, it will be quite similar to that. That means everybody has to wear dress robes and you will all be taking dancing lessons. Yes, even those of you who took them last time, it couldn't hurt to have a little refresher."

Harry groaned inwardly. He hated dancing. Ron however was still surprisingly cheerful.

"Oh man! A ball! And this time I won't have to wear those ridiculous dress robes I had last time, since Harry made the twins buy me new ones with his Triwizard winnings!" He said excitedly.

"And this time," he continued, putting his arm around Hermione and pulling her closer "_I _get to go with the prettiest girl in Hogwarts!"

"Oh Ron" Hermione said, blushing "it took you years, but you've finally figured out that I'm a girl!"

"Ha ha. I always knew you were a girl, I was just too shy to ask you to the ball when I had the chance" Ron replied, remembering the unfortunate incident at the Yull ball when Hermione had gone with Victor Krum, causing Ron insane amounts of jealousy.

"Well, I'm glad you two are so excited" Harry said glumly "who am I gonna go with?"

"Oh Harry, you don't have to go with anyone if you don't want to. You're not a Champion this year so you don't need to dance at all if you don't want to" Hermione reassured him. "Besides, I'm sure there are plenty of girls who would love to go to the ball with the savior of the wizarding world."

"That's actually what I'm afraid of" Harry replied. "I don't want to go with someone who's going to hero-worship me. That's just too weird."

"How about you, Malfoy? Who are you bringing?" Ron shouted to the approaching boy. He was clearly intent on discussing it since this time around he had someone to go with that he would actually have a good time with.

"I have no idea" Draco replied truthfully "I'm not really fussed about it though. There's no one I particularly want to go with. I might just go stag, you know."

"I think that's what I'll do too" said Harry, quite cheered up already. "Why should we hang out with someone who we barely know when we'll have much more fun hanging out with each other."

"Good point Harry" Draco said, smiling.

Ron was in such a good mood, even he didn't object to Harry and Draco spending even more time together.

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October passed quickly and November turned into December. The leaves turned bright shades of yellow, red and orange, before falling and littering the Hogwarts grounds. The lake began to freeze over and before long the students saw the first snowfall of the year. They had to wear hats, mitts and scarves whenever they went outside, not only to protect against the wind, but incase of impromptu snowball fights.

Almost everyone was looking forward to the Christmas break. Hermione was going to her parents' house. Apparently they were having some sort of large party with all of her extended family. Harry and Ron were going back to the Burrow. All of Ron's brothers were going to be there, including Bill's wife Fleur and their new baby boy.

Draco, however, had no where to go. He had no family to go home to. He honestly didn't know whether to expect any presents. He had never been moresorry for taunting Harry about staying at Hogwarts for Christmas in their first year. He resigned himself to his loneliest Christmas ever.

"Why don't you come with me to the Burrow?" Harry asked him for the thousandth time.

"No, Harry, it would be imposing." Draco explained. "Besides, I haven't exactly been pleasant to the Weasleys in the past. They wouldn't want me there."

"Don't be silly. Ron likes you. I'm sure the other Weasleys would warm up to you." Harry said.

"No. Thanks anyway Harry, you know I would love to but it would make me really uncomfortable to force my way in like that" Draco explained.

Harry opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it. They had been through this many times before. Finally, he settled on "But I'll miss you!"

Draco laughed. "You're such a goof sometimes. It'll be what, a week? You won't have any time to miss me."

"But I'm so used to seeing you every day. It's gonna be weird." Harry explained.

"Don't worry; you'll have Ron and his multitude of brothers." Draco said.

"Haha, true. It'll be nice to spend some more time with Ron. Plus there's never a dull moment when the Weasley twins are around." Harry said, comforted slightly.

"Exactly" Draco sighed, wishing he could comfort himself as easily.

**AN: So what do you think? I promise the actual lovey stuff is coming up, I just need to build up to it. I'm actually quite impressed with myself, I haven't gotten bored with this story. Haha.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I was blown away by the response!**

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On Christmas morning, Draco woke up feeling a little sad. Ok, more than a little. He knew that the holiday would be over soon and all the other students, most importantly Harry would be back soon, but it was still depressing spending Christmas at Hogwarts alone. He was a little irked by the fact that he was so lonely without Harry. This was the first year they had been friends and he had plenty of friends to hang out with before he and Harry became friends. He had made some friends in Slytherin this year, but they were all in lower years, as all of his former friends were in Azkaban. There was no denying it: Harry Potter was his best friend. The thought brought a smile to his lips. As best friends went, he supposed he was pretty well off. He was so lost in thought about the various adventures he and Harry had in the past few months that he almost forgot about how lonely he was at the moment. That is until he noticed he didn't have any presents at the foot of his bed. He had at least expected one from Harry.

Grumbling, he changed into his robes and trudged downstairs to the common room. He plopped down into one of the armchairs and yelled in shock when he saw what was in the fire place.

"Happy Christmas!" the head of Harry Potter said cheerfully.

"Augh! Harry, what is your head doing in the Slytherin fireplace?" Draco asked

"I've come to get you!" Harry explained. "Ron and I explained to Mrs. Weasley your situation and she insisted you come to the Burrow for Christmas dinner. She said no one should be alone on Christmas."

Seeing the stunned look on Draco's face, he added "Come on, what are you waiting for? Go grab your stuff!"

Draco raced up the stairs and changed out of his school robes and into casual clothing. He grabbed some of his things and stuffed it into a small bag before tearing down the stairs. He took the floo powder Harry shoved at him and waited until Harry's torso had disappeared before throwing the powder into the fire. When the flames turned green he stepped in and shouted "The Burrow!"

In a swirl of smoke and ashes Draco arrived at his destination. He stepped out of the fire and into the warmest, busiest house he had ever seen. While it was cluttered, it wasn't messy. Every spare inch of the mantle had been covered in pictures of various red headed children. The wall was decorated with various awards given to the Weasley brothers. The chairs were all enormous, cushy and brightly coloured. Draco grinned. Just being here, he felt like the warmth was infectious.

Harry grabbed him by the hand and led him into the kitchen.

"Welcome to the Burrow my dear" Molly Weasley said, beaming at him. "The boys are upstairs in Ron's room"

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley" Draco said, still a little in shock.

Harry led him up the stairs, but stopped before opening the door.

"I just wanted to give you your present." Harry said, pulling a clumsily wrapped package from behind his back.

Draco unwrapped the present in a hurry. It was a broom stick care and maintenance kit for Draco's Nimbus 2001.

"They're really good." said Harry.

"Harry this is brilliant!" Draco said excitedly. Harry had not forgotten him after all.

"I got your present this morning" Harry said, taking a small chain with a golden snitch on it from underneath his t-shirt. "I'm gonna wear it all the time"

The two of them went into Ron's room where Fred and George were showing off some of their newer products to Ron and Hermione. Hermione was sitting in Ron's lap and was resting her head on his chest.

Dinner that night was a festive affair. They brought every spare chair in the house into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had made so much food it barely fit on the table. Even with all the people there eating until they had to loosen their belts, there would still be plenty of left-overs.

That night, Draco slept in Room with Harry and Ron. There were only two beds, but as every other room in the house was full, they fount a spare mattress and made up a bed on the floor. The three of them stayed up talking late into the night. When the other two had fallen asleep, Draco lay on his back looking up at the ceiling. He turned and watched Harry's chest rise and fall as he slept peacefully. Lying there like that, Draco had never felt more content.


	6. Chapter 6

You could almost feel the excitement in the air on New Years Eve. Most of the student body was taking the entire day to prepare for the ball. Hermione was wearing the same periwinkle blue dress that she had in for the Yull Ball, she had a few adjustments made. She had applied liberal amounts of her sleek-eazy hair potion and was wearing her hair down, falling around her face softly. Ron was so proud of having decent dress robes that he looked up and spell to iron them.

Harry didn't quite share in their enthusiasm. He put on his old dress robes, not expecting much from the night. He figured that at the very least he could spend the ball hanging out with his three closest friends. The food promised to be good, and Hagrid had confided that the decorations were a sight to behold, so he did have _something_ to look forward to.

Harry's spirits rose when he and his friends entered the Great Hall. Hagrid had not over estimated the decorations. They were breathtaking. Gold and silver hangings festooned the walls. The enchanted ceiling showed a clear night, with all the stars visible.

Draco rushed over to meet them.

"Good news! We don't have to sit with our houses, so I can sit with you!" he exclaimed excitedly.

They sat down at one of the many tables. The long house tables had been replaced with many smaller, round tables. They were joined at their table by Dean, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati and Padma. As expected, the food was marvelous. Harry was really starting to enjoy himself when the band began to play. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and they moved to the dance floor. Dean, Lavender, Seamus and Parvati soon followed. Padma, who didn't want a repeat of the Yull Ball, had gone off to find a boy in Ravenclaw whom she liked.

Harry and Draco continued their conversation for a bit, but eventually Harry began to get frustrated. Nearly everyone was on the dance floor by now.

Draco, noticing this, said "Do you wanna take a walk or something? Outside?"

"Sure," Harry replied "it's stifling in here."

They went out the main doors and onto the grounds. They walked slowly towards the garden, where Professor Sprout had planted several varieties of exotic flowers. The night air was cool and Harry breathed in deeply, savoring the refreshing feeling after being in the Great Hall where the moving people had made it quite hot.

They sat down on a stone bench on the edge of the garden. Draco pulled at pits of grass and fiddled with them. Harry watched Draco hands and he played with the blades of grass, as though fascinated by them.

"You know Harry, I can't believe I used to think you were arrogant." Draco said.

"Yeah, why did you think that?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. You were the boy who lived, the chosen one. Everyone lived on your every action. You made the paper without trying and you were good at Quidditch. I just assumed you reveled in all the fame. It was stupid. I'm glad I got to know you." Draco said, smiling. "Other wise, I'd have to hang out with lowly 6th years"

"Same old Draco" Harry laughed. "But you know, I was wrong about you too. I thought you were a stuck up snob."

"I was only ever that cocky around you. I wanted to show off, to prove I was just as good as the famous Harry Potter. I must admit I acted fairly confident around other people too though. You have to in Slytherin, otherwise they won't respect you"

"I know." Harry replied. He was suddenly aware of the closeness of their bodies. He looked at Draco's lips and wondered how it would feel to kiss him. His lips looked so soft compared to his own chapped ones. On an impulse, he leaned in and placed his lips on Draco's. Draco was surprised at first but after a moment moved in to deepen the kiss. It felt surprisingly natural as their tongues touched. They kissed each other almost hungrily. Harry grabbed Draco's robe and pulled him closer, their chests inches apart.

Inside the Great Hall, the other students were also kissing each other. It was midnight. Ron and Hermione were locked in an embrace at the side of the dance floor, blissfully unaware of what Harry was doing.

The boys continued until they were broken out of their trance by the sound of some other students coming out onto the grounds. They looked at each other, panicked.

"I…I should go" said Draco.

"Yeah, um, me too, Ron and Hermione will worry."

With that, both boys took off at breakneck speed back to their respective houses.

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Harry lay awake, waiting for Ron and Hermione, debating what to tell them. He wasn't gay. He loved Ginny. If she hadn't died, he might have married her. So why had it felt so good to kiss Draco? That question was driving him crazy. He wasn't gay! He liked Draco as a friend. A good friend. So what if he found his good friend incredibly attractive. It was perfectly normal to notice the shape Draco's broad shoulders made in his robes and to like the distinctive smell Draco had. Augh! What was wrong with him?

Just then Ron came in, pulling a giggling Hermione buy the wrist. Seeing Harry, they broke apart, embarrassed.

"Harry, what's wrong mate?" Ron asked, noticing Harry's pained expression.

"I have to tell you guys something, but you can't freak out, ok?" Harry said, nervously.

They nodded their heads in agreement.

"Draco and I…we sort of….we sort of kissed tonight. It was really good and it _felt _really good, but I'm not gay, I mean I loved Ginny, like I really loved her but…I think maybe I'm bisexual." He said quickly, voicing the thing that had he didn't want to admit to himself.

They looked at him, stunned for a moment before Hermione spoke.

"So, are you two dating now?" she asked, hesitantly.

"NO!" Harry replied vehemently. "I'm still freaked out by the thought of a gay relationship. I'm really uncomfortable with it, I mean I just figured out I'm bi, that's huge. I always thought I was straight. I went through 18 years being straight. I just want everything to go back to normal, but now Draco probably won't want to be friends anymore."

"Well, you know Ron and I love you, no matter what." Hermione said, sitting beside him. "It's a bit of a shock, but we'll get used to it. Harry? We will get used to it. And so will you. You should talk to Draco and explain how you're feeling. He'll probably understand."

"I can't. I don't want to, not right now. Talking about that stuff makes me so uncomfortable. I just…I can't." Harry tried to explain.

Through this entire discussion, Ron didn't say a word. He sat there with a stony expression on his face. When Hermione left the room, he changed silently into his pajamas and climbed into bed, mumbling a quick good night before pulling the curtains on his bed closed.

_Great_, Harry thought. Now Ron is mad. _He probably thinks I'm a freak or thinks I fancy him or something. _

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While tossed and turned, eventually falling into an uneasy sleep, Draco lay awake for hours, an internal battle raging inside his head. Was he gay? It had felt really right to be kissing Harry like that. It hadn't felt odd or gross like it had when he had kissed Pansy. He always assumed that he didn't like fooling around with Pansy because he didn't she wasn't his type. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that no girl was really his type. He found them attractive, but in the way he thought about Harry. He thought it might just be admiration, but now he knew it to be more.

What would everyone think of him? Although really, his parents were dead, his friends locked away. There was only one person whose opinion mattered to Draco right now and that was the person he'd been kissing in the garden. Harry probably wouldn't want to speak to him anymore. He'd be grossed out that his friend could think about him like _that_. Although, Harry had been the one to initiate the kiss. He had seemed to enjoy it, even. But Draco couldn't stop thinking about Harry's reaction afterwards. He'd been so freaked out. He'd just leave Harry alone until Harry came to him. He didn't want Harry to get grossed out and never want to see him again. Draco didn't think he could handle that.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry and Draco avoided each other like the plague for the next few days. When they saw each other in class, they sat at opposite ends of the classroom. In potions, where they usually worked together, Harry worked with Ron and Hermione worked with Draco.

Hermione was getting fed up with the whole thing. She didn't mind working with Draco in potions, but she could tell both boys would rather work with each other. She kept pushing Harry to talk to Draco, but he would avoid the topic whenever she brought it up.

Ron, it seemed had gotten over his anger towards Harry, but was also refusing to talk to Draco. While Harry kept his head down when he was around Draco, Ron looked at him angrily when he passed in the hall.

Almost a week after the incident, Harry looked back at Draco as they were leaving the potions room. Draco was sullen and looked as though there were tears in his eye, though he was fighting hard not to cry. Draco looked up and saw Harry watching him. Embarrassed, he tried to push past Ron to flee to his room, but Ron moved right into him and Draco bumped into him a little harder than he meant to. Furious, Ron turned and shoved Draco into a wall.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Ron shouted, oblivious to the shocked looks on Harry and Hermione's faces. "First you try to steal my best mate then you try to _corrupt_ him. God, isn't anything enough for you?"

At this point, Harry grabbed Ron before he could continue.

"Ron, what's wrong with you? Where do you get off yelling at him like that. He hasn't done anything to you. He hasn't done ANYTHING wrong." Harry yelled at him.

"You haven't done anything wrong" he said more quietly to Draco.

Hermione grabbed Ron and dragged him off to the Gryffindor common room, furious, so Harry could talk to Draco.

Harry pulled Draco to a side corridor so they could talk without pwoplw watching them.

"Draco, I'm sorry, you really didn't do anything wrong. It's just…after the other night, you know, I just felt awkward and I thought you'd probably feel weird too. I wasn't mad at you. It's just the…._kiss_.."

"Was nothing." Draco finished for him, now convinced that Harry couldn't possibly reciprocate his feelings. "it was just a fluke. There's no reason we can't still be friends."

"Exactly" said Harry, smiling even though he felt strangely disappointed. "Besides, I'm not gay." This was partially true. He wasn't gay, he was bi, but he worried that he would freak Draco out if he told him.

"Oh. I am." Draco replied.

"You…you are?" Harry asked, shocked that Drcao had not told him. "I mean, that's ok, but when did you figure this out?"

"Ummm…actually it was after we kissed. It made me think about stuff and I realized I've never really been attracted to girls." Draco explained.

Harry knew he should tell Draco that he was bi, but he couldn't. The words seemed to be stuck in his throat. What if he told Draco and Draco thought he was just repulsed by him? That he had freaked out not because he had kissed a guy, but because he had kissed Draco? He didn't want to risk their friendship again. He had felt so lonely during the past week without Draco, so he didn't tell him.

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After his conversation with Draco, Harry stormed back to Gryffindor tower, furious at Ron for his outburst. When he got there, Hermione and Ron were sitting by the fire, Ron was sulking. Harry walked straight up to him.

"So he _CORRUPTED_ me? Is that what you think it is? I thought you'd understand! Some best friend you are." He yelled and with that he stormed off to bed.

He pretended to be asleep when Ron came upstairs, but Ron didn't even try to talk to him.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Those of you who have made suggestions, thank you, I will try to keep them in mind as I continue to write!

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The next morning Harry woke up before Ron. He changed and went downstarires for breakfast before Ron had woken up. He didn't want to speak to him right now, he was still so furious.

Determined that their friendship continue, he waved to Draco as soon as he entered the Great Hall. Draco smiled back at him and Harry grinned.

In potions, they worked together. They met up and studied together when they had the chance. Whenever they had free time, they would spend it together. While it had been a little awkward at first, the efforts of both boys made it easier to slip back into their normal routine.

Harry didn't get to see much of Hermione because he still wasn't speaking to Ron. Even though he loved spending time with Draco, he missed his friends, even Ron. How was he supposed to be friends with someone who couldn't accept his sexuality?

Maybe that wasn't why Ron was angry. Maybe he just didn't like Draco. No, that couldn't be it, they had seemed friendly enough before the ball.

On the other hand, how could he expect Ron to accept his new sexuality when he himself couldn't. He hadn't even told Draco he was bi, even though Draco had admitted to being gay. He wasn't ready for a gay relationship. What if it went wrong? What if he and Draco broke up because he couldn't come to terms with liking another bloke? Would their friendship be over? These thoughts tortured Harry for the next few weeks.

He also found himself thinking about Draco more and more. Every time he saw the other boy he started grinning like an idiot. It was all he could do to keep from flirting with him. He wanted to run his hands through Draco's white-blond hair, it looked so soft. He wanted Draco to hold him. He was getting so distracted it was hard to concentrate in class. More than once already Hermione had to fix Harry's screw-ups in charms when he'd done the spell wrong because he was too busy thinking about Draco.

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After about two weeks of not speaking to each other, Harry finally confronted Ron one night. Ron and Hermione were in the boys bedroom when Harry barged in.

"So is it that I like blokes, or that I like Draco?" he demanded.

"What?" Ron asked, taken aback.

"You heard me. Are you being a git because you don't like the fact that I like guys, or because I like Draco?" He asked again, impatiently.

"I …I guess both." Ron stammered. "Look, Harry, this is going to sound stupid mate, but when you were with Cho or Ginny it was ok, because they were girls. We were still best mates, you know. But you and Draco, you were already hanging out all the time and…well if you two start dating, you won't need me anymore."

"Ron, you can be so thick sometimes, you know?" Harry told him. "You'll still be my best mate. Actually, by this point you're practically a brother. It doesn't matter who I'm dating."

"But Harry, you two are already spending all of you time together and…you think of me as a brother?" Ron asked.

"Yes, of course I do! And we've been spending all out time together because I've been mad at you. Before that, you and I still hung out loads, right? And if it would make you feel better, we can set aside time to hang out, just us." Harry tried to explain to him.

"Really?" Ron asked, looking reassured. "Just to let you know Harry, I don't really have a problem with you being bi. It was a little weird to hear, you know, but it's not like I'm opposed to the idea. I think one of Charlie's friends is gay…or maybe it's Bill."

Harry grinned.

"So anyway Harry, I don't mean to pry or anything, but I have been sort f out of the loop and all" Ron rambled "are you and Draco dating now?"

"Oh, god no" Harry said

"Why not!" he asked "even I can see you two clearly have a thing for each other."

"I don't know. I've never dated another guy before." Harry replied lamely.

"Yes but you had never dated a girl before Cho." Hermione said, piping up for the first time.

"That's true, but he said the kiss meant nothing. He probably doesn't feel that way about me."

"Is he gay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah…..he said he realized it after we kissed." Harry told them.

"Ok well then he was definitely lying about it meaning nothing." Hermione said. "Plus the way he looks at you Harry, he clearly cares about you."

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Down in the Slytherin dungeons, Draco was thinking about Harry in a way that made it evident that the kiss had not meant nothing to him. He couldn't stop dwelling on how it had felt to kiss Harry. Every time he was around Harry, he longed to pull those soft, pink lips in for an embrace, to run his hands along Harry's chest.

Draco was convinced that the only reason Harry was still friends with him was because he didn't think Draco liked him like _that_. Harry wasn't gay, he had no chance. He would just have to get over his attraction to the boy, no matter how much it hurt.

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Two days following his conversation with Ron, things had mostly gone back to normal for Harry. Ron had apologized to Draco and the four of them were hanging out together again, albeit with a bit of tension, but he was sure that would go away with time.

The only problem was that he couldn't stop thinking about Draco. He wanted to kiss him, to hold him, to touch him. He thought about what it would be like to be with him. He found himself staring at Draco's ass when he walked to the supply cabinet in potions. When their hands touched by accident, Harry felt his heart speed up. There was no avoiding it anymore. If what Ron and Hermione said was true, maybe Draco liked him back. If not...he didn't want to think about that possibility.

That afternoon, Harry asked Draco to take a walk out side, by the lake. When they were sufficiently far away from the school, Harry summoned the courage to talk to Draco.

"Listen, Draco?" Harry began, "the other day, when I told you I wasn't gay…well that wasn't entirely the truth. I'm bi. I figured it out that night when we kissed. I know I should have told you, but I just wasn't ready for a relationship. But now I am and I'd really like to try. I know you said that the kiss was nothing, but to me it was something. It felt right to be kissing you. It meant a lot to me, actually, because _you_ mean a lot to me and I'm hoping….that you feel the same way."

He started to say something else but Draco had moved forward and kissed him.

"Harry, I was lying when I said it meant nothing. I thought you wouldn't want to be friends anymore. And I'd like to give this a try too" Draco said with a huge grin on his face.

With that Draco pulled Harry in for a kiss. Their mouths opened to allow each other's tongues access. Draco's lips felt incredibly soft against Harry's.

When they broke apart, the boys grinned at each other shyly.

"Do want to hang around here for a bit before we go back inside?" Harry asked, "it's a nice day out."

"Sure" Draco replied.

They lay down on a small hill so that they had a good view of the lake, which was clear blue mirroring the sky. Harry's arm was around Draco, who had his head resting on Harry's shoulder.

"So when are we gonna tell the other two musketeers?" Draco asked playfully.

"Oh yeah, them" Harry said sheepishly, "we should probably tell them tonight."

"Damn. I was hoping for 'never'" Draco joked.

"Ha ha. You're so clever. Besides, they already know I fancy you." Harry replied.

"Do they?" Draco asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I told them a few days ago, but they figured it out before that." Harry said.

"So Ron's not gonna go all berserk on me again?" Draco asked hopefully, snuggling closer to Harry.

"No. we worked that all out. Actually, he was egging me to ask you out for the past couple days!" Harry told him.

"Really?" Draco asked incredulously, "This is the same Ron Weasly that pushed me into a wall just for existing? Are you sure it's not Hermione using pollyjuice potion or something?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Harry laughed, rumpling Draco's hair.

"Augh! My hair!" Draco said, also laughing.

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From her vantage point in the Gryffindor tower, Hermione could see the two boys laughing in each others arms. She smiled, Happy that her friend had finally let himself be happy.

"Hermione? You coming?" Ron asked, coming out from the boys dormitory.

"Yup, I was just looking for that book on 'Jinxes for the Jinxed'" she replied, walking to meet up with her boyfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hermione, Ron, I - or rather we – have something to tell you" Harry said.

He and his best friends were sitting underneath the old oak tree outside Hogwarts, the one they used to sit under and study when he had been with Ginny. Surprisingly, that thought didn't make him sad anymore. They hadn't come back to the tree until today: too many painful memories, especially for Harry. Today though, he wasn't thinking about Ginny. He was too focused on the on his new boyfriend – and how to break the news to his friends.

"Go ahead Harry" Ron said.

"Ok well umm" Harry started, a blush already creeping across his face, "Draco and I, were…were…well were.."

"Together." Draco finished for him, "like as a couple."

Harry grinned at Draco. Telling Ron and Hermione had been harder than he thought, considering they already knew he fancied Draco. Thank god his boyfriend wasn't as easily shaken.

Draco smiled back at him. Harry was adorable.

"About bloody time!" Ron exclaimed loudly.

"Yes, well done" Hermione said, but couple seconds later she couldn't contain herself.

"Oh alright I already knew. I saw you to by the lake the other day." She explained, "You really ought to be more careful about where you decide to snog!" She didn't seem the least bit worried about it though and was beaming at them.

"You saw us! Oh god." Harry said. He attempted to hide his blush by burying his face in Draco's shoulder.

"Harry, don't worry about it mate." Ron assured him, "you either Draco. We're cool with the two of you."

"I knew you would be" Harry said, but he was visibly relieved.

"Are you going to tell people?" Hermione asked curiously.

"We hadn't really talked about it." Draco admitted.

"I think you might want to hold off on it." Ron told them, "There aren't a whole lot of gay blokes in the wizarding world are there? People won't know how to react and it might go over badly."

"I thought you said Bill's friend is gay?" Harry said, starting to worry again.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Charlie's friend after all. And that was the only wizard I've ever heard of who liked other blokes. Apart from his boyfriend of course, but I've never met him." Ron explained.

"Didn't you tell me he was a muggle-born?" Hermione asked, "it's much more common with muggles. Perhaps not entirely accepted, but much more common."

"Oh well, it's not like I haven't endured people talking about me before." Harry said, his voice full of false confidence.

"I dunno Harry, you'll probably be ok with Seamus and Dean. Seamus' dad is a muggle and Dean is muggle-born." Ron said, "Draco will probably have a harder time with the Slytherins. They're not exactly renowned for being accepting of things or people who are different."

"Plus there's the press" Hermione went on, "once they get a hold of this it'll be everywhere."

"I don't want to hide it" Draco said, surprising them. Of the two, he was the one who would have a rougher go of it. "If people find out, so be it. We don't want to parade it around or anything, but I'm a Malfoy and I've never been ashamed of who I am."

Harry smiled and kissed Draco on the cheek.

"I'm with Draco on this one." Harry said, "Besides, people thought I was the heir of Slytherin and then they thought I was some attention-seeking nutter. I don't think this could be worse than that."

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As it turned out, Harry was right, at least for the most part. He had told Dean and Seamus straight away. He felt he owed it to them, considering that they shared a dormitory. As Ron had predicted, they had been fine with it, though they were a little surprised at first.

Draco hadn't told anyone, but these things have a way of getting out. A few people spotted them holding hands on the way to class. Yet more swore they had seen Draco give Harry a peck on the cheek at lunch before going to the Slytherin table to eat. A very surprised Professor McGonagall had witnessed an extended goodbye kiss when she looked out into the hall to see why Harry was so late for class. The final straw had come when two first years had gone down to the lake for a swim and had seen Harry and Draco making out behind a tree. After that, the news had spread like wildfire and by that night there wasn't a single person who didn't know about their relationship.

While most people at Hogwarts were wary of it at first, they soon came around. The only exception to this was, as expected, the Slytherins. Draco was taunted by his housemates whenever they got the chance. He had started eating meals at the far end of the Slytherin table to be as for away from other people as possible. He only went down to the Slytherin dungeons to sleep and avoided his common room whenever possible. Harry had to hex a few Slytherin fourth years who, thinking themselves clever had tried to bewitch the back of Draco's robes to say 'freak' in glowing blue letters. What surprised Harry the most was the way Draco continued to hold his head high. He never seemed to be moping about his situation and Harry admired him even more for that.

He asked Draco one day how he could take the torments of his fellow Slytherins so well. Draco laughed and replied "Harry, do you remember a few weeks ago, when those two brats tried to bewitch my robes?"

"Yeah." Harry replied, his anger at the prank returning.

"Do you remember what you did?" Draco asked him.

"I told them to piss off and then I used the bat-bogey jinx on them." Harry said, thoroughly satisfied with his response.

"Actually, I believe what you said was something along the lines of "Regardless of sexual preference, Draco Malfoy has more class then you two will ever have. Years from know you'll probably end up working for him so you ought to remember to stay the hell away from my boyfriend!"" Draco said smiling.

"Oh yeah" Harry laughed.

"Well before that, I was starting to feel really lousy. I mean I've never exactly been thought well of by the majority of Hogwarts and for peat's sake my father was a death eater, but this is the first time the slytherins have really been against me. When you defended me, it made me realize that it didn't matter what they thought. For the first time, I have friends with I.Q.s higher than that of a carrot and a boyfriend who cares about me." Draco said. "I don't think I ever told you, but when I was with Pansy, she cheated on me with Blaise Zabini."

"Really? That's horrible!" Harry said.

"Yeah and yet unsurprising for her. But you have loyalty. To your friends and to me and that's why it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

"Draco, you amaze me more every day" Harry admitted. Draco pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"I know" he said coyly, "but now I have to run. I doubt Professor Flitwick will accept 'I was busy amazing Harry Potter' as an excuse for being late."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Thanks again to all my fabulous reviewers! You guys made my day.

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When Harry entered the Room of Requirement and saw Draco sitting on the large couch, he felt his heart swell. Draco had his work spread out on the table in front of him. His brow was furrowed in concentration while he read an enormous book of magical fungi. They were meeting Ron and Hermione there to work on a potions essay. It had gotten difficult to sneak Draco into the Gryffindor common room all the time and there was much less distraction the Room of Requirement.

Biting on his pencil and skimming through pages of information on fungi, Harry thought had Draco had never looked more perfect. He felt so lucky to have someone like Draco. The past few months had not been easy on either of them. Once the press had gotten wind of their relationship, it had been in every issue of 'the Daily Prophet' for weeks. They seemed to think that perhaps it was a stunt, that Harry really like being talked about and was dating a guy just for a reaction. Once they came to the realization that it wasn't a publicity stunt and that Harry really did fancy guys, they started criticizing his choice of partner. Draco was the son of a death eater, but as though that wasn't enough, they began to make up character flaws to make it appear that he wasn't good enough for their beloved savior. Now the press had died down, people had grown bored of his love life and he was free too enjoy his relationship with Draco in peace.

He sat down next to Draco on the couch and began to plant butterfly kisses on his cheek.

"Hello to you too" Draco said, laughing. He put the book down on the couch beside him. Harry used this opportunity to lift his other leg over Draco so that he was straddling him, sitting on his lap. He continued to place soft kisses all over his face.

"What's gotten into you?" Draco asked, though he was not complaining, "Ron and Hermione will be here any minute."

"I know" Harry replied between kisses. "I just can't help myself around you. You're perfect." He kissed the tip of Draco's nose and then he kissed him on the lips, more deeply than all the other kisses. Draco responded enthusiastically, opening his mouth to allow Harry's tongue to slip in and caress his own. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's neck. Draco's hands stroked Harry's hips and began to move north, under Harry's shirt. Their tongues continued to battle it out as they kissed each other passionately.

Just as they could feel themselves becoming aroused, Hermione and Ron arrived, their conversation stopped as they stood in the doorway surprised.

"Aurgh! God, you two, get a room!" Ron complained loudly. Harry clambered off Draco. Both boys' faces were now a bright shade of red.

"Um…Sorry guys" Harry said with a big grin that clearly said he didn't regret it in the least.

"Sometimes I think you two wait until you know we're coming." Hermione said shaking her head.

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They didn't finish their essays until much later that night. Yawning, they went to leave the room and go back to their dormitories and sleep.

"Uh Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, uh, sure." Harry replied, "Ron, I'll see you back at the tower. 'Night Draco" He gave Draco a quick kiss before retreating back into the Room of Requirement with Hermione, who had already said good night to Ron.

"So…I'm not in trouble am I?" He joked, a little apprehensive.

"No, no, don't be silly" she reassured him, "I was just curious…..how far have you gone with Draco?"

"Wow, umm, that was a little unexpected." Harry admitted, "Not all the way yet. We have done stuff though, but you could probably guess that from what you walked in on."

"When you say stuff, you mean…" Hermione pressed.

"I dunno, hand jobs mostly. Blowjobs too. We're taking it kind of slow though, because of our romantic history, plus we don't exactly get a lot of chances to be alone." Harry explained. This was possibly one of the weirdest conversations of his life.

"Oh god, if that's taking it slow, we're moving at a snail's pace!" Hermione said, distraught, "I mean, we've done all that by now too of course but we still haven't had sex."

"Really?" Harry asked, a little surprised. They had been dating far longer than he and Draco.

"I just wasn't ready, you know?" Hermione explained. "I was fine with all the other stuff, but when I thought about going any further I started to freak out. I'm so analytical about everything, I can't help it!"

"Hermione, it's alright, everyone goes at a different pace." Harry reassured her, "I'm still a virgin too. Ginny and I never did anything and we had a fair amount of time. Draco and I started doing stuff a couple weeks after we started going out and that was with some _serious_ restraint." He smiled as he thought of the first time Draco had gone down on him. Even though Draco had been inexperienced, it had been the most wonderful experience of his life. Having Draco's mouth cover him had sent chills through his body.

"I know, and I love Ron, I'm really happy with him." She said, "He hasn't ….I don't know…complained to you about it, has he?"

"Hermione are you kidding?" Harry asked, as he moved to sit beside her on the couch and put his arm around her comfortingly, "He's happy to be with you. If all he wanted was lots of action he would have stayed with Lavender Brown."

"You're right." Hermione replied, "To tell you the truth, I think I'm ready now, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons."

"Yeah it makes sense." Harry replied. Hermione rested her head against his shoulder and yawned.

"I think it's time to go to bed." She said sleepily. They trudged back to the Gryffindor tower together while Harry wondered when he had become the expert on relationships.


	11. Chapter 11

Harry pushed off the ground and began to circle the Quidditch pitch on his Firebolt. The crowd roared in excitement. Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw and it was the second last Quidditch match of the year. Whichever team won this match had a good chance of securing the Cup. The Pitch was adorned with alternating banners in blue and red. The spectators in the stands were divided, the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs wore the Gryffindor house colours while across from them sat a sea of blue. The Ravenclaw supporters were joined in the stands by the Slytherins, who would rather see just about anyone win over Gryffindor.

As Harry circled closer to the stands he could make out the sounds of something the Slytherins were chanting. On his second go-round he could make out the words more clearly.

_You can't play Quidditch_

_When your seeker's Malfoy's_….

He didn't hear the end, but he got the jist. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who had heard the song and Professor McGonagall was storming over to the Slytherins with a furious look on her face.

He pushed the distractions out of head as he searched for the snitch. He was so focused that Gryffindor had scored three times before he noticed.

Down in the stands, Draco was sitting with Hermione and the Gryffindors. He had borrowed one of Harry's red and gold scarves, so he looked like a true Gryffindor supporter, but was still struggling. He kept feeling disappointed when Gryffindor scored, only to realize that he was cheering for them.

"I'm still having trouble getting used to cheering for Gryffindor. I keep thinking they're the opposite team!" Draco whispered to Hermione.

"Haha, just don't say that too loudly!" Hermione whispered back.

Just then Harry pulled into a dive; he had seen the snitch down beside the right Ravenclaw goal post. Draco felt his heart leap into his throat as Harry narrowly dodged a bludger. Harry suddenly pulled up, holding the struggling snitch in his hands.

Draco and Hermione jumped up and down cheering. The Gryffindor team enveloped Harry in a huge group hug with the Ravenclaw team walked dejectedly off the field.

"We're having a victory party in the common room tonight!" Dean said coming up to them. "We reckon we can get some firewhiskey."

Draco had stopped listening and was running down to meet Harry. He pulled Harry back from the rest of the team and gave him a congratulatory kiss

"I did it!" Harry exclaimed.

"Of course you did it, you're the best seeker at Hogwarts" Draco said with his arms still around Harry's neck.

"I've gotta go shower, but I'll meet you after? We can _celebrate_." Harry said suggestively.

"Ok, but I'm pretty sure Dean and Seamus are throwing a party in the Gryffindor common room, so we'll have to save our celebrating for later tonight" Draco laughed.

"You're coming right?" Harry asked him, "To the party?"

"Umm…it's in the Gryffindor…oh all right, but you are staying with me the whole time to protect me from all your house mates."

"Goof, you won't need protecting. But who am I to refuse spending a whole night with you" Harry said. He gave Draco another kiss before going off to the showers with the rest of his team.

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Draco and Harry struggled to get through the crowded common room and up to the boys dormitory. They had stayed at the party for several hours and had a few firewhiskeys each, but now it was getting late and they wanted to get going so they could spend some time alone. Finally Harry managed to escape, to the protests of his house mates who were now too drunk to effectively stop him. Normally the two of them would have been the life of the party but the prospect of what was to come later that night had them a little distracted. It would be their first time having sex and their excitement far out weighed their nerves.

"I'll just grab my cloak and then we can go to the Room of Requirement" Harry whispered to Draco.

They were slightly too inebriated to feel especially awkward as they barged in on Ron and Hermione making out. Harry mumbled some thing along the lines of 'sorry, see you later' as he grabbed his cloak from his open trunk and before leaving again.

They slipped under the cloak before going down to the common room to avoid questions about where they were going. The climb out of the portrait hole was difficult, since they couldn't very well climb through it at the same time. Eventually, Draco came out from under the cloak and pretended to be going back to his dorm. Once they were both successfully out in the hall, Harry pulled the cloak over Draco as well so that they could walk along without being discovered by Filch.

"Finally! I thought they'd never let you leave!" Draco exclaimed as he sprawled out on the large bed in the Room of Requirement.

"Mmmff…but the party definitely had it's advantages." Harry replied as he pulled Draco's tie off and started to undo the buttons on his shirt.

"Such as?" Draco asked.

"Well, now you're drunk enough that I can take advantage of you" Harry replied as his began to kiss Draco's bare chest.

"H-hey I'm not drunk!" Draco stammered his breath hitched as Harry's mouth found his nipple. "And besides, I don't think it counts as taking advantage of me if I'm a willing participant." He started to pull off Harry's clothes and flung them in a pile at the side of the bed with his own.

Harry kissed down Draco's treasure trail, which was as blond as the hair on his head. He undid his belt buckle and the button on his pants and pulled them off, leaving Draco in only his boxers. Draco pulled Harry back up to capture his mouth with his own. Draco fingers raked Harry's back.

Draco flipped them over so that he was on top and began to kiss Harry's neck. He nibbled on the sensitive skin and sucked on it until Harry gave a soft moan. He pressed his lips once more to the mark he had just left on Harry's skin. He then moved down, following the dark brown trail of hair on Harry's abdomen. He undid Harry's pants and pulled them off along with his boxers in on quick motion. He and Harry shared a lust filled glance before Draco had taken Harry's erection in his mouth. Harry whimpered as Draco brought him nearer to a climax.

"Wait" Harry cautioned. He then pulled Draco down onto the bed with his back facing him. "I believe I'm supposed to take advantage of you at least once."

Draco gasped as he felt Harry enter him, the saliva acting as lubricant. After a minute Harry began to thrust in and out. Both boys felt as though they would explode from pleasure.

Draco climaxed first, and Harry followed moments later. They fell back on the bed, exhausted and breathing heavily.

"Oh god, that was amazing." Draco panted.

"Why haven't we been doing that the whole time?" Harry asked.

"Beats me" Draco answered truthfully, "Wanna have another go? I believe it's my turn to take advantage of you."

"Absolutely." Harry replied eagerly.

Draco 'took advantage' of him several times that night until they both were too exhausted to move. They fell back again the bed, ready for sleep. Draco held Harry in his arms and Harry rested his head against Draco's bare chest. As they drifted of to sleep, Harry mused that it felt good to be held, he felt safe and protected in Draco's arms. It was a nice change after having to protect everyone else for so long. Before he could dwell on it too much, he fell asleep.

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The next day, Ron noticed Harry wasn't in his bed, but figured he had just gone down to breakfast early. When he arrived, Harry wasn't there but he didn't put too much thought into it and sat down next to Hermione.

Harry and Draco entered the Hall a few minutes later. Draco started to go to the Slytherin table but Harry grabbed him by the waist and pulled him toward the Gryffindor table. He whispered something in Draco's ear before they both came over and sat down across from Ron and Hermione. Ron noticed that Draco was wearing Harry's shirt; there was a brown stain on the collar from when Harry had blown up a potion in their fifth year.

Draco showed mild discomfort as he sat down, which Ron attributed to him sitting at the wrong house table, but Harry winced as he sat down.

"What's wrong mate?" Ron asked. Harry just mumbled something about 'broom riding' and Draco bit his lip.

Breakfast was uneventful, although Ron noticed that Harry and Draco kept shooting glances at each other. When the two of them got up to leave, it was Hermione that noticed Harry walking weirdly.

"Ron, why is Harry walking so funny?" She whispered. Suddenly it all clicked into place.

"Looks like the Gryffindor chasers weren't the only ones who scored yesterday" he whispered into her ear with a grin.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** Ok, so chapter 11 was my very first sex scene. I kept it fairly tame because otherwise it wouldn't really flow with the story and also, I'm taking baby steps, lol. Anyway, I was really nervous about it, but from the reviews I've gotten, people seem to like it, which means a lot.  So anyway, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my fabulous reviewers, especially the ones who review a lot, you are the reason I'm motivated to continue!

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With their NEWTs coming up, Harry and Draco spent much less time alone and much more time in the library or Room of Requirement studying. They were usually joined by Ron and Hermione. Draco had similar study habits to Hermione; he poured through notes and books as if there was no tomorrow, although he was a little less panicky. Harry was quite glad of this because between Draco and Hermione there was enough of a positive study influence to balance out Ron, who was constantly trying to put the studying off until later.

Harry and Ron, both harboring ambitions of becoming auror, would have to achieve high marks in all their classes. Only the best and the brightest were accepted for auror training. Hermione had not given up on her dream to help house elves, but was indecisive as to whether she should stick with S.P.E.W. (the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare) or accept a job at the ministry where her talents and intellect could be put to better use. While S.P.E.W. was an admittedly admirable venture, working at the ministry would pay much better and once she climbed the ladder a bit, she would have enough influence to bring mistreatment of houselves to the forefront of public attention. Draco didn't know what career to pursue. He really didn't need to work for money, so the options were endless. He wanted to do something to restore people's faith in him, to distance himself from what his father had been. All of their ambitions rested upon how well they did in their NEWT exams.

Two weeks before their NEWTs, the four of them brought their notes outside and were studying by the lake. Harry's head was in Draco's lap and Draco ran his hands through Harry's hair while Hermione quizzed them. Ron had tried to quiz them, but Hermione hadn't let anyone else get a word in edge wise in her eagerness to answer.

It was obvious to everyone, especially their friends, that Harry and Draco were more comfortable around each other. They seemed to be almost in sync.

Hermione smiled as she noticed Draco looking down at Harry lovingly. She wondered briefly if the four of them would ever be together like this after Hogwarts. She pushed the thought out of her head; she'd never leave Hogwarts if she failed these exams.

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Harry and Draco lay in bed late at night. The NEWTs were a week a way, but they were taking some time off from studying so they wouldn't have mental break downs. Harry lay on his stomach with him arm draped over Draco, tracing patterns on his chest. Draco stroked Harry's arm gently. He lifted Harry chin up to look at him.

"Harry, I love you" Draco said softly.

"I love you too Draco" Harry smiled.

"I don't know how you were able to survive when Ginny died. When I think about losing you…" Draco trailed off.

"Draco, you don't have to worry about losing me, I plan on sticking around for a very long time." Harry said smiling, "As for Ginny, it was really hard when she died. I loved her…but I think I love you more."

"Really?" Draco asked surprised.

"Yes. And I get to be with you every day" Harry said.

"Have I mentioned that I love you" Draco said.

"I believe you may have said something about that" Harry laughed, "I think it's time we get to sleep now though, Hermione will want to start studying early tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, I can't wait for these god-forsaken exams to be over" Draco whined.

"Agreed. And I believe your birthday is the weekend after our last one. What do you say to a small party?" Harry asked.

"Hmmm…how about a _very_ small party? You, me and no clothes" Draco asked devilishly.

"Hmmm… tell me more about this 'no clothes'" Harry said, starting to kiss Draco's neck. Draco laughed, arching his back in pleasure. Harry was still going to have a party, but Draco didn't need to know that right now.

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NEWTs went by in a haze of tiredness and stress. Harry felt his potions exam went remarkably well thanks to Draco, who had been helping him with the trickier bits of the theory behind potion making. Harry in turn helped Draco learn some of the more complicated spells in DADA.

They finished their exams fairly confident about their performance, except of course for Hermione who was convinced as usual that she had failed everything. Harry for one was glad that they had gone by considerably less eventfully than his OWLS, when he had passed out and had a vision of Lord Voldemort torturing his late god father.

The evening after their last NEWT, the four of them gathered in the Room of Requirement with some bottles of butterbeer. Hermione was of course obsessing about the exam to the annoyance of the other three.

"Oh, I just know I could have done that locator charm more effectively. I should have made it glow a different colour, or at least made it brighter…" She rambled.

"Hermione, you know we hate talking about it. We can't do anything about it now." Ron told her sternly.

"Besides, we have much better things to discuss now" Harry said, changing the subject, "such as Draco's party."

"What, no, what party? Harry, who's going to come to a birthday party for me?" Draco asked.

"We will, to begin with, plus there are plenty of people who like you now that you've stopped being such a git to everyone." Hermione informed him.

"Gee thanks" Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"Well it's true!" Hermione said unapologetically, "but any way, I've spoken to everyone in our year and they're all coming. We'll have it here in the Room of Requirement, most people know about it by now."

"And when exactly do you plan on having this party?" Draco asked, grinning a little in spite of himself.

"On Saturday." Harry informed him.

"We're getting firewhiskey smuggled in from Hogsmead." Ron added. "We have to do it in secret, even though we're of age now, because we're not aloud it in the school."

"Wow, you really have this all planned out" Draco said. He was secretly really pleased.

"Of course we do. What did you expect?" Harry said laughing.

"You are something else Potter" Draco laughed.

"I know." Harry said proudly, before leaning over and whispering in Draco's ear, "and I promise, we can still have that _other_ party."

"Oh good, because I was looking forward to it." Draco whispered back.

"If you'd like, we could have a little preview tonight." Harry whispered suggestively.

"Hey you too, care to rejoin the group?" Ron said, throwing a pillow at them.

"Sorry guys" They replied, laughing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Ok, so in this chapter, since it's about Draco's birthday party, there is a lot of drinking. I in no way encourage excessive drinking, especially among minors, yada, yada, but my description of this party comes mostly from my own experience. I have never been a teenage witch, so I don't know how they have fun, so I have to assume they get just as retarded as the rest of us. No one in my story is drinking to the point of alcohol poisoning, which is a very real possibility. Now that I've got my obligatory warning out of the way, on with the story!! Haha.

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True to their word, Harry, Ron and Hermione had planned Draco's party to a tee. It was sure to be night to remember. The night of the party, Harry led Draco up to the Room of Requirement. Draco was apprehensive; sure that no one would come. Once they arrived, it became clear that his fears were unfounded. The room was full.

When Harry and Draco entered, the group erupted into cheers. There was music playing and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Harry and Draco each grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and headed over to the side of the room where Ron and Hermione stood waiting for them. Draco thanked them profusely several times for the party before Harry dragged him off to dance.

"I thought you didn't like dancing" Draco noticed.

"I don't like ball room dancing because I'm rubbish at it." Harry explained, "This is just standing next to you and moving around a bit."

"Point taken" Draco laughed.

"Plus now I can look as goofy as I please and attribute it to being drunk" Harry said.

"You mean like this?" Draco said, doing a little shake to the fast paced song that was playing.

"Only you could make being goofy look like the newest dance move" Harry laughed. The song changed, now playing a song from a popular wizard band.

"I love this song!" Draco exclaimed, pulling Harry in for some more enthusiastic dancing. Harry noticed Ron and Hermione in the middle of the dance floor laughing as they clumsily danced along to the beat. Hermione was normally a rather good dancer, but she had consumed a fair amount of firewhiskey already, impairing her balance slightly.

Dean and Seamus came up to them later on in the night to wish Draco a happy birthday in loud, drunken voices. They congratulated Harry on throwing such a good party. It was indeed a party to rival the ones Fred and George used to throw.

The party was so good in fact, that Draco got rather carried away. By the end of the party he was so inebriated that he had to hold on to Harry to keep from falling. Harry was hardly any better, so eventually they decided that they had better be going to bed.

There was no way Draco would be able to go down to the dungeons on his own, and Harry was in no state to bring him there, so they both went to Gryffindor tower.

"NO SEX! JUST SLEEPING!" Harry informed Ron and Hermione, who were passed out on Ron's bed and probably couldn't hear him even though he was shouting. Harry pulled Draco's shirt off and then his own before they both fell into bed. They had no sooner than pulled the covers over them when they both fell asleep.

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Luckily, the morning after Draco's party they could sleep late, as it was a Sunday. They woke up around noon, or rather Ron fell out of bed around noon. He then noticed Harry and Draco's naked torsos, assumed the worst and started freaking out. When everyone else had woken up and Ron could see that both boys were still wearing pants, they went down to the Great Hall for some lunch.

After lunch they went outside to sit by the lake. They were the only ones there since the rest of the school was inside studying for exams. NEWTs were done earlier than the other exams, because they were overseen by the same officials as the OWLs.

They had a rather lazy day, watching the giant squid swim lazily by and eating various left over sweets from their last trip to Honeydukes. Around four o'clock, Ron and Hermione went inside, leaving Harry and Draco to drift off to sleep. About an hour later, Draco was woken up by a large rain drop falling squarely on his forehead.

"Huh?" Draco asked, confused as to why he had woken up. Just then he was hit by several more, as was Harry who jerked awake. The rain started to come down quickly and within minutes the boys were getting wet. Draco conjured a large black umbrella and yanked Harry underneath.

"So much for laying out in the sun" Draco said ruefully.

"Oh well, I was starting to get sun burnt." Harry reasoned. "Besides, I think dinner is in a few minutes."

They trudged back up to the castle. The wind pushed the rain side ways so that, despite the umbrella, both boys were soaked by the time they reached the large doors at the entrance to the castle.

They went down to the dungeons first, so that Draco could change out of his wet clothes. Harry stood outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room and waited for him. Once Draco was done, they went all the way up to the Gryffindor tower so Harry could change. By the time they got there, there was only half an hour until dinner, as they were informed by Dean on his way downstairs. Harry brought Draco inside with him; the Gryffindors were used to it by now and were less protective of their space than the Slytherins.

Harry threw his wet robe on the end of his bed and proceeded to riffle through his trunk for new clothes. Once he found them, he lay them on his bed and pulled his shirt off over his head. Droplets of water glistened on his bare back. Draco couldn't help himself; he ran his hands over Harry's sides and up his front.

"Mmmm…not that I'm not enjoying this, but dinner is soon. Plus Ron will never speak to me again if we have sex in here." Harry said. Draco kissed him passionately on the lips and he gave in. "OK, maybe 10 minutes."

"Don't worry, we won't be late for dinner" Draco assured him, "I'm just…helping you change." He pulled Harry's trousers off as they continued to kiss. Draco had Harry's boxers down around his ankles when Ron walked in.

"Just came back to get my AUGHH!! Never mind!" Ron yelled as he left the room hurriedly.

"Oh crap, oh crap" Harry said grabbing his dry boxers and pulling them on, "That was NOT good." He pulled his pants on backwards in his hurry and had to take them off and try again.

"I mean _that_ was good" He continued, referring to their fooling around, "But definitely not him seeing us. I've got to go explain." He grabbed his spare cloak and tore out of the room with Draco in tow.

They caught up to Ron about half way down to the Great Hall. Harry grabbed him and pulled him behind a tapestry that hid a passageway.

"Ron, I'm so, so sorry. I was just changing out of my wet things and we got a little carried away and..." Harry said quickly.

"It's fine mate, really. It'll take a little while before I can get that image out of my head, but it's fine." Ron assured them, "Never again though, unless you want to permanently scar me."

"Agreed." Harry said, relieved.

Draco thought it was a little bit funny, but wisely kept his mouth shut until dinner, when he whispered in Harry's ear.

"I believe you still owe me a private party" he said cheekily.

"Tonight." Harry whispered back, "Room of Requirement. We can finish what we started upstairs." He sucked on Draco's earlobe before returning to his steak and kidney pie as though nothing had happened.

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Late that night they snuck up to the Room of Requirement. As soon as they closed and locked the door, Draco turned and looked at Harry as though inspecting him.

"I believe" he said taking off his robe, "That neither one of us meets the dress code as of yet."

"Hmmm… I think you're right" Harry said, throwing his robe on the floor and pulling his shirt off, "Lets fix that." He tackled Draco onto the bed and pulled his shirt off.

"Now let me see if I remember how you did it when you were 'helping me change.'" He said mischievously. He pulled Draco's pants off slowly, kissing down Draco's legs as his skin became exposed.

"Tease" laughed Draco, though by the expression on his face he was enjoying it.

"You love it" Harry said, finally pulling Draco pants off and unbuckling his own belt. Draco was much less patient than Harry and began to tear Harry's pants off. He pushed Harry down onto the bed and kissed him. Harry whimpered as Draco's tongue plunged into his mouth. Their erections rubbed together, shooting pleasure through their bodies.

Harry spread his legs, allowing Draco easier access. When Draco entered Harry they both gasped in pleasure. They were lost in their own world that nothing could distract them from. Hours later after they had both finished several times, Draco kissed Harry once again deeply, in a way that conveyed love rather than lust.

They lay there together peacefully until they both fell asleep.

Neville was screaming in pain. Bellatrix Lestrange was torturing him. Now she was binding him to a tree. Bellatrix became Snape who laughed cruelly at Harry. "_Arrogant, just like your father._" He was saying. He became Voldemort himself, who started to torture Ginny. "_You will lose EVERYTHING_."

Harry woke up with a start. He sat bolt upright, drenched in sweat.

"Harry?" Draco asked groggily, "Harry what wrong?"

"I… just…it seemed so real. It was like being back there." Harry said.

"What was?" Draco asked again, concerned.

"In my dream, I was still fighting the death eaters. I saw them torturing people." Harry said, embarrassed the he had woken up afraid of a nightmare. Draco didn't seem to think it was anything to be ashamed of. He sat up and rubbed Harry's back until he calmed down.

"I can still their faces, screaming in pain and I can't do anything. I can't help them" Harry said.

"It's over now. Voldemort is dead. The Death Eaters are locked up. You stopped it. You did help them." Draco said soothingly.

"Draco…you don't have to tell me if you don't want to…I know you don't like to talk about it" Harry said

"What is it, Harry" Draco interrupted.

"What was it like, being a Death Eater?" Harry asked hesitantly. Draco looked taken aback, but answered anyway, slowly as though the words weighed several pounds.

"Well I was never a real Death Eater, thankfully." He explained, "I mean my only task was to kill Dumbledore and I couldn't do it. It should have been easy, it was either his life or my own and my family's but it's so hard. After He killed my family and I went to the ministry I was always in hiding. I'm probably the only Death Eater ever to have survived desertion. I didn't know you were going to kill Him. I thought that without Dumbledore nobody stood a chance and it was my fault. But it was better than having to kill people and torture them. I don't think I could have lived with myself."

Harry was silent for a few minutes before replying.

"How do you move on? How do you get over something like that?"

"You never really get over it. But you've already moved on. You and I, we're moving on. We will probably never forget the things that Voldemort did, but we're not letting him control our lives." Draco told him.

"Yeah." Harry replied, "He doesn't get to control my life."

"Lets go back to sleep, ok" Draco told him, "a good night's sleep will make everything seem better."

"Ok" Harry smiled, lying back down in Draco's embrace.


	14. Chapter 14

"They've met you before, they know what you look like!"

"I still want to look presentable, they're practically your family after all. We weren't dating last time and I don't think it will endear them to the idea of us if I look like a hobo."

"Draco Malfoy, when have you ever looked like a hobo?"

"Well never, but now you know why."

The school year was over and Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron were all going to the Burrow for an end of year party Mrs. Weasley was throwing. That is, they would be going if they didn't miss the train. Draco had spent the past hour fixing his hair and changing outfits so that he could look his best. Harry was packing for him.

"Draco, you could be wearing a house elf's smock for all I care, lets go!" Harry said impatiently.

"Fine. Here I was trying to make a good impression because I know they are important to you." Draco pouted, "Silly me." Harry sighed.

"I appreciate that you want to make a good impression." Harry said, kissing Draco on the back of the neck, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. You really look fine as it is. Better than fine, if you looked any hotter I'd have to worry everyone else would try to steal you away." 

"You're just saying that to make me hurry up" Draco said, but his face softened, "I think I like this outfit best anyway."

"Good." Harry said, placing a kiss on his lips, "I'll take your trunk, you take your owl. My stuff is already in the entrance hall with Ron and Hermione."

They caught the train with minutes to spare. They crowded into a compartment with Dean, Seamus, Parvati, Padma and Lavender. There was hardly any space to move around, but they had come too late expect a compartment to themselves. It was an uncomfortable ride, but it was fun. They played several large games of exploding snap, before dissolving into various conversations.

Parvati and Lavender stopped playing first and started looking through the newest catalogue for Gladrag's robes. A few minutes later Padma stopped playing too and the three of them went off to find some of Padma's Ravenclaw friends.

Harry eventually stopped concentrating on the game. He fidgeted with the hem of his robe and stared out the window.

"Harry, you alright?" Ron asked, noticing his odd behavior.

"Huh?" he asked, coming out of his stupor, "oh, yeah, I'm fine." Ron shrugged and turned back to the card game. Draco, however knew better. He could tell that something was bothering Harry and he had a pretty good idea what.

"Harry" he said, stroking Harry's leg, "you know it will be fine. They love you"

"I know," Harry replied glumly, "It's just, it's the first time…"

"Oi, what are you two on about?" Dean asked. Harry sighed.

"I'm just a little nervous about seeing everyone." He admitted, "You know; Ron's parents and his brothers and Remus and Tonks. I just don't want them to see me as a different person. I'm not different, I'm the same."

"I know." Draco said sympathetically, "I'm nervous too. This is as close as I can get to 'meeting the parents'. I mean I know I've met everyone already, but now they're going to be more protective of you to make sure I won't break your heart or anything. It's a little nerve wracking!"

"You're both nutters" Ron said succinctly, "My family is not that scary. Alright, Fred and George are a bit worrisome sometimes, but not in the way you two are talking about."

"Ron!" admonished Hermione, "Show a little sympathy."

"Look Harry, truthfully, at first, I saw you as being a bit different" Ron admitted, "but obviously it was all in my head. Once I got over the idea of you- you know-liking blokes, I didn't even think about it. My family have had months to get used to the idea of it, it's not like it's a shock. It'll be the same as it always was."

"I hadn't thought of that." Harry admitted, cheering up a bit, "I guess I should be glad that they heard about it in the papers then. I don't think I would have liked to be around them being as big a prat as you were."

"Hey!" Ron said, offended.

"Well, you were being a git" Harry said grinning, "you got over it though."

"Yeah ok, you're probably right" Ron admitted sheepishly.

"And Draco, believe me, the 'meeting the parents' thing with the Weasley's is not that bad." Hermione assured him, "Mr. Weasley gets very excited and Mrs. Weasley offers you everything in the kitchen. Bill and Charlie are polite and Fred and George….well they're Fred and George so they're rather unpredictable."

"I don't know if I should feel relieved or worried" Draco laughed.

"Relieved" Hermione said matter-of-factly.

Draco wasn't entirely convinced, but just then the train slowed to a halt. They grabbed their things and exited the compartment, eager to get out of the cramped space and move about a bit. They couldn't go through the barrier all at once because it would startle the muggles on the other side, so they went in groups of two or three. Dean and Seamus went first, followed by Ron and Hermione and finally Harry and Draco.

Mrs. Weasley and Remus Lupin were there to meet them. As they were walking over, Draco instinctively grabbed Harry's hand. Harry squeezed it and smiled at him-as though to assure him he'd be fine.

"Hello dears!" Molly exclaimed when she saw them.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley, hey Remus!" they all replied, except Ron, who was pulled into a giant hug by his mother before he could finish saying 'hey mum.'

They would have walked from the station to the Burrow, but the ministry had provided cars. Despite their differences, the ministry was using every opportunity to appear as though they were on excellent terms with the boy who lived. It made Harry a little angry that they thought a few loaned cars every once in a while would make up for years of slander and lack of support from them, but he since he was hoping they'd employ him as an auror he didn't complain.

"Your father is still at work, but he'll be back in time for the party" Mrs. Weasley said when they got to the burrow, " Tonks as well. Bill and Fleur will be round this afternoon to help me set up" She got out some vegetables and spelled the knives to chop them into smaller pieces.

"What about Charlie?" Ron asked.

"Stuck in Romania, couldn't get the time off. Now would any of you like anything to eat or drink? I can fix something up for you if you'd like" she said, already staring to riffle through pantries, "Draco you're almost as skinny as Harry, are you sure you wouldn't like some biscuits or something?"

"No thank you Mrs. Weasley" Draco replied, relieved that Hermione had been correct on one count at least, "we had snacks on the train."

"Alright then, why don't you drop your things upstairs and head outside?" She suggested, "The twins are out there and they've been itching for a Quidditch match. I'll call you in when everyone gets here."

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The party that night was excellent. It seemed that Ron was right; Harry didn't think anyone was treating him differently. Ron's dad kept asking him and Hermione to explain various muggle appliances to him, which they did happily. There were a few awkward moments, but that was to be expected. One such instance was when Lupin asked Harry where he would be living.

"Oh, uh, well I'll be going with Draco to live at Malfoy Manor." He said with a small blush on his face. As he spoke he could see people turning to look at him curiously.

"Oh. I didn't realize you two were that serious." Remus said, trying to appear as though he wasn't fazed by the information.

"Yeah, we are." Harry replied, "Plus it's not as though I would be going back to the Dursley's. I suppose I could live at 12 Grimmauld place, but it's too miserable and it would bring back too many memories of Sirius."

"How long are you staying at the Burrow for before you go then?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure. Probably a few days." Harry told him.

"You might want to stay a bit longer than that." Remus told him, a smile and his face, "at least until the wedding."

"Wedding? What wedding?" Harry asked.

"Ours!" Tonks said brightly, joining the conversation, "Mine and Remus'."

"Congratulations!" Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione all exclaimed at once.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

"We wanted it to be a surprise" Tonks told her.

"When is it?" she pressed.

"In a week and a half" Remus answered.

"Don't worry, we're going to Diagon alley in a few days so you'll have a chance to buy dress robes and anything else you need." Tonks added, noticing the panicked look on Draco's face.

"Oooh! I love weddings!" Hermione squeeled excitedly.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note:** Hurray! My writers block has gone away! You may not have noticed that I had one, because a few weeks ago I wrote a few chapters at once when my internet was down and I had nothing else to do but play spider solitaire. Regardless, I'm back and ready to rock. 

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Mrs. Weasley insisted upon setting up a mattress in Ron's room for Draco. Harry couldn't bring himself to tell her that they would not need it and that he and Draco would share a bed. He did however, ask Ron if that would be ok since they would be in the same room. He didn't want him to feel awkward. Luckily, Ron didn't plan to spend much time in the room.

"Honestly" he said, lowering his voice so no one could over hear, "I'm probably gonna sneak up to Ginny's old room to be with Hermione, so as soon as my mum finishes doing her rounds to make sure we're in bed, I'll leave you two alone."

"Oh, that works out nicely." Harry said, relieved.

"Please don't actually _do_ anything though" Ron implored.

"We won't" Draco promised, "the last think we need is for your mum to walk in while my dick is in Harry's a… I mean while we're _making love_."

"Yes…well" Ron said shaking his head as though hoping the image of his best friend in a very compromising position would fall out, "appreciate that. I wouldn't be able to sleep in my room ever again."

So, once they were sure Mrs. Weasley was done checking up on them, Ron snuck off to where Hermione was staying and Draco climbed into bed with Harry. True to their word, they limited themselves to kissing.

After a little while Draco broke away, promising to be back soon, to go get a glass of water from the kitchen. He tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to make too much noise in case he woke someone up. He could hear voices as he approached the kitchen, so he stopped around the corner so he could listen.

Mr and Mrs Weasley, Tonks, Lupin, Bill and Fleur were all sitting around the dining room table drinking tea. They were clearly having a very in depth conversation. Draco strained to make out what they were saying.

"I think it's brilliant" said a voice that sounded like Tonks, "They're cute together."

"They do seem cute." Said someone Draco was sure was Molly Weasley.

"I was just a little surprised; they seem to be moving pretty fast, don't they?" That was Remus Lupin.

"I have to agree with you Remus." Molly again, "They're so young and they want to move in together."

"Draco seems to me to be a lovely young man. I don't think there is any reason to worry." Said someone with a thick french accent.

"Oh well of course he's lovely, but how do we know he won't hurt Harry." Molly said, "That poor boy has had enough heartbreak in his life. I'd hate for him to get too attached to Draco if he's only going to cause him more sadness."

"Now Molly dear, I'm sure Harry can take care of himself."

"Of course he can dear, but I can't help worrying about him."

"On the other hand, I haven't seen Harry look so happy in a long time." Remus reasoned.

"I am pleased that he had found someone." Molly said.

"He has no idea how unusual he is. Most people who had experienced what he has wouldn't be any where near as well adjusted as he is." Draco wasn't sure, but he thought that might have been Bill.

"He is a very special young man." Mr. Weasley agreed.

It was at that point that Hermione's cat Crookshanks decided to leap on Draco. He had already been leaning forward so much that when the large cat landed on him he toppled over into the kitchen, making a loud _thump_.

The six adults turned around to investigate the source of the noise. They shared embarrassed looks when they noticed it was Draco.

"Draco dear, we didn't hear you come down the stairs." Mrs. Weasley said, flustered, "Was there anything you needed?"

"I'm not going to hurt Harry." Draco said.

"Draco dear, we didn't…" she started.

"No. I'm not going to break his heart, I'm not going to leave him." Draco went on, "this isn't just a fling. I love him. He's my best friend and I'm in love with him. You're practically Harry's family and your opinion means a lot to him, and so it means a lot to me. But you have to understand that we're both a hundred percent committed to this relationship."

Remus spoke first.

"Draco, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have been so quick to assume things." He said, "We were just surprised. We don't want to see Harry get hurt, I'm sure you understand that."

"Of course I do" Draco said, "I hope that you can at least give me a chance."

"Of course, dear." Mrs Weasley said, smiling, "It's not that we don't like you. You really are a very nice young man and I can see that you care very much for Harry. I'm a mother, I can't help but worry."

"I know."

"And no matter how much you and Harry care for each other now, things can change." She continued, " And then it'll be all over the paper, rubbing it in his face."

"Mrs. Weasley, that can be said for any relationship Harry would have, not just one with a guy." Draco countered, "and there's always the possibility of breaking up, but he's a big boy, he can handle it. Plus I would never want to hurt Harry, even if our love fizzles out."

"I know." Mrs. Weasley sighed, "We should have given you more of a chance. From now on, we will."

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Draco said. "I'd better get to bed." He climbed back up the stairs, forgetting the water he came for.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked when he got back.

"Oh, nothing important." Draco said.

"Where's your water?" Harry asked, "I was hoping I could have some."

"Come to think of it, I could have just conjured it." Draco said. He flicked his wand and produced a large clear glass from thin air.

"Aguamenti." He mumbled, and the glass filled with water. Once both he and Harry had quenched their thirst, they lay back down on the bed. Harry wrapped his arm around Draco's middle and leaned over and kissed him.

"Good night, I love you." He said sleepily. Draco smiled.

"I love you too Harry, I always will"

Downstairs, once they were sure Draco was out of earshot, the conversation continued.

"See dear, there's nothing to worry about" Arthur said, kissing the top of his wife's head.

"Well…I must admit I do feel a lot better about it." She conceded, "Draco obviously cares a lot about Harry."

"The way I see it, he would have to." Tonks spoke up, " With all the criticism and the media circus surrounding their relationship, I reckon they'd have to really care about each other to put up with all of that."

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That weekend the four of them went into Diagon alley. They were accompanied by Fred and George who had to go to work at their joke shop. Molly had wanted to go with them, but Ron had assured her that they would be fine by themselves; they were adults now after all.

Draco insisted on going into Gladrag's Wizard Robes for some new dress robes, since all of his were inappropriate to wear in the summer. Hermione was fitted for some as well since she had been wearing her old ones for years. Harry wasn't going to get any, so that Ron would not feel bad about being the only one who could not afford them, but Draco generously offered to buy Ron's as a peace offering for years of tormenting him. At first Ron refused, but once he was reminded of an unfortunate incident with slugs in their second year he gave in. Hermione's were a vibrant purple, Harry's were midnight blue and Draco's were, surprisingly, a bright Gryffindor-esque red. Ron stuck with black, as many other colours would clash with his hair.

After they were all done their fittings, they went to Florean Fortesque's ice cream shop for sundaes. Florean's daughter had taken over the shop after her father's death, but she continued the tradition of giving Harry free ice creams, to the envy of Ron.

After much debate, they finally decided upon a suitable wedding present for Tonks and Remus. Hermione thought they ought to give them a book or manual of some sort, Draco wanted it to stand out and Harry and Ron wanted to make sure it was something that they would actually use. In the end, they got them 'Miss Pristine's compendium of household potions and how to use them', which came with pre-made potions, some ingredients for future potions and a book that described how to use, make and store everything. It was a bit pricey, but they knew it was worth it. Tonks had once confessed to Harry her ineptitude for any house hold related magic.

They returned to the Burrow that night after having a few drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. They were tired from their long day of shopping, but it was a pleasant, satisfied kind of tired.


	16. Chapter 16

The time they spent at the burrow was practically carefree. They spent most afternoons playing two on two quidditch with Harry and Hermione against Ron and Draco. The teams were mostly even because while Harry was extraordinary and Draco and Ron were good, Hermione was dreadful. It took all of her concentration to fly properly on her broom, so whenever the Quaffle came near her she got so surprised she fell off. As such, the matches usually ended whenever Harry started to get tired from playing against two people practically single handed.

Four days after their shopping trip, Fred and George stopped by while they were making dinner. They usually lived in a flat over their store, because Weasley's Wizard Wheezes did booming business.

"Hey little bro!" Fred said, walking through the front door.

"Is mum around?" George asked.

"She's in the garden out back." Ron informed them, "Why?"

"Oh, that friend of her was in the store today." Fred replied.

"You know the one." George continued, "She pinches our cheeks and tells us how much we've grown up."

"Oh George, look how tall you're getting!" Fred said in a high pitched voice, pinching his brother's cheeks.

The twins stayed for dinner at the insistence of their mother. Draco thought she might have regretted that request once the twins got up to their usual body of tricks, but Harry insisted that she was used to it by now.

That night, Harry was starting to feel restless and cramped in the crowded house. He loved spending time with the Weasleys, but he was used to having a bit more space to himself. Draco suggested that they lie out on the roof for a few hours. It was a nice night out; the sky was cloudless and there was a light breeze. They grabbed their brooms from the shed in the Weasley's backyard and flew up to the roof of the house.

"I used to do this all the time as a kid." Draco confessed, "My father's friends were always over; former Death Eaters or important people from the ministry. Every time I got tired of being a show pony, I'd go up on our roof so no one could find me."

"I wish I had thought of this at the Dursley's." Harry said ruefully, "it's so peaceful out here." He lay back against the slanted roof.

"God it must have been terrible to live with those muggles." Draco said. "I still can't believe they made you sleep in a cupboard."

"It was bad, but not because they were muggles." Harry mused, "I'm pretty sure most muggles aren't like that. Hermione's parents seem perfectly nice."

"I know." Draco replied, "It's still hard to imagine decent muggles though. My parents were always saying how filthy they were and then once I heard about your relatives, it practically confirmed it."

"Leave it to the Dursleys to give all muggles a bad name." Harry laughed.

"What do you think they would say if they knew you were dating me?" Draco asked jokingly.

"You mean if they knew that I'm an even bigger freak than they originally thought?" Harry said laughing. He pictured his uncle's face growing steadily more purple. "I dunno. They've spent years trying to pretend I don't exist, so they might just continue that trend." Draco frowned and suppressed the urge to bash Harry's aunt and uncle any further.

"I can't imagine what my mother and father would say." Draco said as though he was thinking out loud, "they'd probably freak that there won't be an heir to the Malfoy fortune."

"That's one thing that wouldn't bother the Dursleys. They'd probably throw a party once they found out I won't be procreating." Harry said.

"You know you still could have kids, you still fancy girls." Draco reminded him.

"A lot of good that'll do me unless you plan on becoming a girl." Harry said, completely missing the implication that he could have kids with someone else rather than with Draco. The thought of dating someone else in the future hadn't even entered Harry's head. Draco smiled to himself, but did not mention it.

"I had my whole life planned out for me." He said instead. "Now I don't know what to do. There are so many options but I have no idea which to pursue. I never had the option to choose before so it wasn't and issue."

"Well, there is always potions, you're good at that. Also, you'd be a shoe in for most ministry jobs." Harry suggested. He hoisted himself onto his side and leaned on his elbow so that he was slightly above Draco.

"Yeah, I suppose. I just can't get excited about any of those jobs" Draco said glumly.

"Well, when you think about ten years from now, where do you see yourself?" Harry asked. "Maybe we can start with that and work backwards." Draco blushed and mumbled something Harry could not understand.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." Harry said.

"I said I see myself with you." Draco repeated slightly louder. This time it was Harry's turn to blush.

"Good thing too, 'cause I don't plan on letting you leave." Harry said grinning. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips. Draco grabbed Harry's shirt to pull him into a deeper kiss. Unfortunately, Harry lost his balance and his arm slipped out from underneath him.

"Oof!" Draco said, winded as Harry landed on his chest.

"Oops!" Harry said, apologizing by kissing his way up Draco's neck. He snaked his hands under Draco's shirt. His chest was surprisingly warm considering they were outside in the cool night air. Draco raked one hand through Harry's hair, grabbing the back of Harry's shirt with his other hand.

Harry pulled Draco's shirt off, exposing his torso to the night air. He licked both of Draco's nipples in turn. Draco gasped when he felt the wind on his wet skin. His attention was soon directed elsewhere though, as Harry undid his belt and the zipper on his pants.

Just then, light spilled out into the yard from the house.

"I wonder where Harry and Draco got off too." Ron asked.

"I don't know. They wouldn't actually leave without telling us would they?" Hermione asked, a little uncertainly.

Draco pulled his shirt back on and did up his belt quickly while Harry grabbed their brooms. They flew down to where Ron and Hermione were standing.

"Hey!" Harry said, breathing hard from moving so quickly to get down there. "You two looking for us?"

"Harry!" Hermione said in surprise.

"Woah! Mate you came out of no where!" Ron said, equally surprised.

"Oh, no, we just fancied a quick fly. We were just up on your roof when you came out." Harry explained.

"The roof?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, we just kinda landed there for a minute. You know, look at the stars for a bit and all." Harry said. Hermione gave him a curious look but said nothing.

"Oh, ok." Ron said, oblivious. "Mum just wanted us to tell you we'd better get to bed."

They locked the brooms back up in the shed and made their way back into the house. As they were going through the door, Hermione grabbed Draco's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Your zipper is still open." She whispered, giving him a knowing smile before going ahead into the house. Draco followed, feeling mortified.

The boys went into their room while Hermione continued up the stairs towards her room. They changed into pajama bottoms, leaving off their tops because it was much too hot out. They carried out their normal bedtime routine without even having to think about it. Ron and Harry pretended to be asleep in their beds and Draco lay on the mattress on the floor in case Mrs. Weasley poked her head in to check up on them. Once she was back downstairs, Ron disapparated and Harry held up the blanket for Draco to crawl underneath with him.

"Hmmm…I think our NEWT results will be here soon." Draco said, snaking his arms around Harry's bare chest. "I wonder if they'll know to send mine here." Harry's smile disappeared.

"Oh, I had almost forgotten about those." He said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do brilliantly." Draco assured him. Draco brushed the hair from in front of Harry's face.

"I'll have too, other wise I can kiss my dreams of being an auror good bye." Harry said. "There's no way I did well enough. I don't know what I'll do if I don't score high enough."

"We can be aimless people with no goals together." Draco joked, trying to cheer Harry up.

"Draco, this is serious!" Harry said.

"I know! Harry, of all people I should know what you're feeling." Draco assured him.

"That's true." Harry admitted sheepishly. "It's just that from the time I found out I was a wizard, hunting down dark wizards is all I've really known."

"Yeah. But you'll always have me." Draco said.

"That's true" Harry said, smiling, "I'll always have you."


	17. Chapter 17

Mrs. Weasley stirred the bowl of pancake mix, or rather she bewitched it to stir itself while she poured in ingredients, and glanced up at the clock. It was much too late for those boys to still be in bed. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Hermione this morning yet either. She left the batter on the counter, where the wooden spoon continued to stir furiously.

She knocked softly on the door of the boys' room. No one answered. She supposed they were still asleep.

"Alright you three, it's nearly 10:30, time to get up, there's lots to – OH MY!" she said as she opened the door. Harry and Draco lay on their bed asleep. Draco's arm was draped over Harry and their legs overlapped. It was a hot night, so they had thrown the cover off in their sleep and were not wearing any shirts.

When the two boys heard Mrs. Weasley freaking out they started to wake up. At first they were confused as to where all the noise was coming from but when they opened their eyes they understood. They had overslept. Ron had not come to wake them up like he usually did and now they were in the embarrassing spot of explaining their current position to Mrs. Weasley.

"What do you two think you are doing?" she demanded, her rambling finally becoming coherent.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm so, so sorry. It really isn't what it looks like." Harry tried frantically to explain, "We were just sleeping!"

"And you felt the need to do this in the same bed, rather than separately?" Mrs. Weasley asked, growing steadily redder.

"Yes!" Draco answered, "Believe me, we have too much respect for you and your husband to do anything while we're here. I just like having him beside me."

"We are going to be living together soon, which means we will be sleeping in the same bed. We're not children anymore." Harry reminded her, "but if you would rather we sleep separately while were here, we will."

"Well I, well I…" Mrs. Weasley stammered, "I'll discuss it with Arthur."

"Mrs. Weasley, I really am sorry." Harry said again, "You're like a mother to me, I didn't mean to take advantage of your hospitality." He looked fearful, not wanting to meet her eyes and see the disappointment. Mrs. Weasley broke down when she saw how dejected he looked and gave him a crushing hug.

"You're just growing up before my eyes aren't you." she said tenderly, which Harry took to mean she didn't hate him. Unfortunately the warm and tender feelings did not last long as she looked over to where Ron's bed lay alone.

"Where's Ron?" she asked, the shrill pitch returning to her voice.

"Ummm.." was all that Harry and Draco could say as they look at each other panic stricken.

Mrs. Weasley tore out of their room and up the stairs to the room where Ron and Hermione lay sleeping. Harry and Draco followed, horrified.

"RONALD WEASLEY!!!!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed as she burst into the room. Ron fell out of the bed.

"Oh bollocks." He said with a stunned expression on his face. Hermione looked about ready to burst into tears.

Harry and Draco retreated back to their own room. Hearing Mrs. Weasley's tirade once was enough for one day. Fifteen minutes later, Ron and Hermione emerged from the room behind a prim looking Mrs. Weasley.

"Time for breakfast dears." Mrs. Weasley said, her usual cheery voice a bit strained, poking her head into the room where Harry and Draco had finished dressing.

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The three boys had all forgotten that Remus and Tonks' wedding was that afternoon. Hermione of course had remembered, but she had been so convinced the others would remember what day it was that she hadn't bothered to mention it.

At about noon they all retreated to their rooms to go through the required ritual to make themselves presentable. For Ron and Harry, that merely involved putting on their new dress robes. For Draco and Hermione however, whose hair required more effort, the process took slightly longer. Harry tried to get his messy tresses to behave, to no avail. Draco rumpled Harry's hair affectionately.

"Just give up." Draco said, "You look adorable anyway."

"Thank you…I think." Harry laughed. He gave Draco a quick peck on the cheek before they went downstairs.

They flooed to the small building where the wedding was being held. Calling it a church was perhaps a stretch. It wasn't like any of the muggle churches Harry had been too and it didn't seem to be devoted to any particular faith. On the altar at the front of the room sat several glowing orbs and a long, golden staff.

They sat on Lupin's side of the room, in a pew behind Fred, George, Bill, Fleur and their baby. The other half of the room, where Tonks' guests were sitting, the benches were filled with a mixture of stern looking ministry witches and wizards and weirder, younger ones who were chatting animatedly. Lupin, understandably, had fewer guests as he did not work at the ministry, nor for that matter had he been able to hold a steady job due to the werewolf legislation that made it incredibly difficult. Joining them on his side of the room were some of Harry's old Hogwarts professors, including Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick.

The ceremony was an odd affair, although thankfully quite short. Tonks and Lupin stood at the front of the room in light blue robes. A very thin man with an exceptionally large nose held the golden staff between them while they read their vows. Draco and Harry held each other's hand tightly at this point, as did Ron and Hermione. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley glanced affectionately at each other. The bride and groom then placed their hands on the golden staff. A strange light filled the room, emanating from the orbs on the altar. A rope of light wrapped itself around Tonks and Lupin and then disappeared.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife!" the extremely thin man announced. Harry remarked to Draco that the ceremony was actually quite similar to muggle ones.

The main event at wizarding weddings was usually the party afterwards. This was no exception. There was a banquet hall in the basement of the building. Tonks explained to Harry that they would have liked to have had the party outside, but wizarding parties tended not to be inconspicuous and it might alarm the muggles in the surrounding area.

Once he saw the decorations in the hall, he understood perfectly. Large sparklers that never went out stood at various points around the wall. A multi-tiered cart with spindly legs held a large assortment of cakes in odd colours. Trays carrying miniature sandwiches floated around the room on their own. A local wizard band was playing in the corner and there was a space in the middle of the room for people to dance. Tables with shimmery silver table cloths were set up around the room. In the middle of each table sat candles burning with long purple flames.

Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione grabbed some cake from the cart and sat at a table at the far end of the room. They beckoned over one of the trays and grabbed some of the finger sandwiches.

"MMMF! These cakes are really good!" Ron exclaimed with his mouth full. The other three laughed.

"Harry, try this bright green one." Draco said, feeding Harry a fork full of the odd coloured cake. "I'm not sure what the flavor is, but it's really good."

"Green apple." Harry guessed after tasting it. "You're right, it is good. I think that might be my favorite after the coconut."

"These are like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans except without all the nasty flavors." Hermione pointed out. "Although we'd be sick if we tried every flavor."

"It'd be worth it." Ron said with a contented smile on his face.

"How about a photograph for the wedding album?" asked a pimply man with a large camera who had just walked up to their table. They squished closer together and smiled. There was a bright flash of light and some purple smoke.

The band started to play a cover of a song by the popular wizarding band 'The Weird Sisters'. Hermione dragged Ron off to the dance floor, where some of Tonks friends had already started dancing. Draco looked at Harry.

"You up for it?" Draco asked.

"May as well." Harry replied. "Everyone here has seen me make a fool of myself before."

"You don't look foolish when you dance at parties!" Draco assured him. "You're really a pretty good dancer as long as it's nothing too formal."

"If you say so." Harry laughed, but he felt secretly pleased. Draco could tell, but he didn't tell Harry that. Draco placed his hand on the small of Harry's back and led him out on to the dance floor.

Harry's fear of dancing badly disappeared almost immediately. Tonks' friends were all dancing rather badly, although they seemed to be doing so on purpose. Harry seemed wonderful by comparison.

They danced their way through several more songs, laughing, before a song that was much slower came on. The singer of the band proclaimed it was time for the bride and groom's first dance. The crowd on the dance floor moved to the sides to allow Tonks and Remus some room. Tonks wrapped one arm around Remus' neck and the other held his hand. Remus' hand went to Tonks' hips and they began to move to the music. They were soon joined by other couples; Molly and Arthur, Ron and Hermione. Professor McGonagall could be spotted dancing with Professor Flitwick.

"I don't know how to slow dance- you know, with a boy." Harry said, seeing Draco was about to ask him to dance.

"It's just like slow dancing with a girl" Draco laughed, "which you don't like. Ok never mind, it's nothing like dancing with a girl and everything like standing very close to me with your hands around my neck."

"Now _that_ I can do." Harry said shaking his head at the ridiculous statement his boyfriend had just made.

"Good." Draco said, dragging him out onto the dance floor. Harry discovered that Draco hadn't been far off in his assessment of slow dancing and that cheered him greatly. Also, he liked the feeling of Draco's hands on his hips.

"Personally, I think slow dancing is just a good excuse to touch each other in public." Drcao whispered in Harry's ear. Harry laughed and rested his head on Draco's shoulder.

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"It's really quite extraordinary, isn't it?" Arthur asked Molly as they danced.

"What's extraordinary, dear?" Molly asked, confused.

"Harry. Harry and Draco." He explained. "I've never worried about our boys. I always knew they'd do well and that they'd be happy. Everyone knew that it was a matter of time before Ron asked Hermione out, but with Harry I wasn't so sure."

"Harry is a very special boy." Molly said. "He deserves all the happiness he can get."

"They look at each other with that awed expression." Arthur gave a little chuckle, "It kind of reminds me of us." Molly looked over to where the two boys were dancing. Draco was whispering something in Harry's ear and Harry was grinning so broadly that it looked like it might actually be possible for it to go from ear to ear.

"They do, don't they." Molly smiled.


End file.
